Infrared Outdoor Cameras

When it comes to shooting pictures with a digital deer camera at night you basically have two options a flash bulb camera or a camera that uses infrared technology to take the picture.

Infrared Deer Cameras (IR Cameras)

A infrared outdoor camera uses electromagnetic radiation producing a wavelength longer then that of the visible light of a flash bulb but shorter then a radio wave to eliminate the subject allowing the digital deer camera to "see" in the dark.

Flash Bulb Outdoor Deer Cameras

Flash bulb cameras on digital deer cameras work much the same way as they would a typical camera, a bright flash is triggered at the same time that the shutter opens lighting the area directly in front of the camera about 30 feet out.

The Big Debate

The subject of a using a outdoor trail camera with a flash and its effect on deer have long been the subject of debate at hunting lodges across the country. Many hunters feel that using a flash spooks deer from the area where the outdoor camera is positioned (not a good thing for your deer camera to be doing).

My personal feeling is that deer are definitely effected by a flash bulb going off in their face. Just imagine yourself walking through a dark woods at 3:00 in the morning. Your eyes have adjusted to the darkness and you can kind of make out the trail based on the dim light of the half moon in the sky. You round a corner around a big oak tree and a huge flash of light shoots right in your eyes. It would scare the heck out of me and I'm not a deer with highly tuned senses.

The other main reason I believe that deer are effected by flash is every time I see a picture of a deer taken at night with a flash style deer camera 90 percent of the time there is no second picture or the deer is looking right at the camera. I guess my take on it is why risk it especially when you can get a deer camera with infrared technology built into it like the Buckeye Cam With Infrared flash. The Infrared flash on the Buckeye Deer Camera provides a "flashless" 30' night shot that won't spook your target or alert a trespasser as to the presence of your camera.

The majority of the images I have taken at night with my Buckeye outdoor camera often have many shots of the same deer and the deer are very rarely spooked in my images.